It was the day of the wedding everyone was getting more nervous by the hour, I had a feeling something bad would happen but I guess this is just my anxiety playing tricks on me.
We were getting Jessica ready in here, her bedroom was filled with roaming hairdressers, makeup artists, and maids, trying to finish her look as soon as possible to get a few picture before the grand wedding.
She was always the beautiful girl between us and I didn't know she could get any prettier but here she is, the most stunning bride I've ever saw.
Jessica's family was invited to the castle too, her mother was trying to make sure everything's in the right place and bossing the workers around changing the smallest details on her daughter's look.
She ran around in her long, greyish-blue mermaid cut dress worrying about anything she finds wrong. "Lift her hair from here", "Let's touch up her face makeup one last time", "Are you sure that's the right color for her?" and many, many more questions and commands were echoing the room all morning.
Her father was sitting outside in his simple navy blue suit and slightly back combed hair, nervous for his only daughter's wedding and crying happy tears for how much she's grown, proud of her for winning the prince's heart.
I was sitting with Jessica and her mother alone in her bedroom after finishing her makeover, until we heard a knock on the door and Elijah entered through the big mahogany door. His eyes quickly shifted to his girlfriend and his jaw dropped, he wasn't supposed to be here but I guess no one could stop him from doing what he puts his mind to do.
I needed to get them both alone to talk and well you know they want to have their privacy too, I said the first thing that came to my mind. "Oh you finally arrived! We'll leave the room soon and when you finish your work just call us, we'll be in the room next door." I stood up leaving both of them alone.
Elijah shot me a look of gratitude before shifting his gaze back to Jessica, who already had tears forming at her eyes. I kept looking backwards towards them, they were already a few inches apart and we weren't out of the room yet. I heard him say "You look amazing love." Before I finally closed the doors behind us.
"Is there something wrong?" Jessica's mother was worried again.
"No just a quick inspection from the prince to make sure she looks well just like they talked before, she'll carry the royal family's last name after all. She nodded as in a sign of understanding and sat next to her husband.
Hopefully Jessica's lipstick and hair won't be messed up when we go back inside but let them talk together for a while, I walked towards William's room to see him one last time before the ceremony.
I knocked on the door and waited for his respond, thankfully no one else was in the room with him so we're free to take our time before Elijah comes back.
He looked as handsome as always, his jet black hair styled carefully since I couldn't notice any flaw with it nor a strand falling out of place. His ocean blue eyes were as bright as ever, they really stood out in the sunlight coming from his windows. His black suit was pressed and fit him like a glove, I know it was tailored just for him but the designer here at the castle really stood out this time.
"I thought as the groom, I wasn't allowed to see you before the wedding." He joked giving me a small peck on my forehead, one that makes my entire body melt every time; I'll never get used to his touches or kisses.
"Well you're not supposed to see your bride and I'm clearly not in a big white dress so you're good." I responded guiding him to one of the small couch.
"Yet." Is all he said, which was enough for my heart to do some acrobatic flips inside my chest.
We talked for a while before it was show time, I hurried to Jessica's room to find her mother hugging her so tightly and whispering some encouraging words into her ear, that made me think of my mother how I wish she would be here today and every day next to me, giving me strength and hope for the next day.
"Are you ready Jess?" I asked her, she simply nodded. Her mother left to find her seat leaving us to talk alone. "It's your time to shine our queen." I said.
She wiped the tear that fell from my eye. "Don't cry darling, we all know that you're the star of this event, I wish we didn't have to do all of that so that each one of us could be with the one she truly loves. I mean look at us, William pretending to be happily married, you and Elijah making sure that the king will believe your sudden love and relationship." She fiddled with her dress, looking down at her feet sadly.
I placed my finger under her chin to make her look at me, "Raise your chin up girl, or the crown will fall," we always used to say this line to encourage each other whenever we had a presentation back in town. "We'll go through this together, we'll always do."
Her father entered the room cutting our conversation short, he immediately started crying. "Oh Jessica my little princess is all grown up now, you look amazing darling." He hurried to give her one big bear hug.
"I'll wait for you outside, don't be late it's almost time for the ceremony." I closed the door behind me and let out one long deep breath.
I heard the door open again, the bride held the bouquet ready for the ceremony her hands twanged with sweat. She was nervous. Incredibly so. Her heart ran with legs like a runner. Her eyebrows frowned in worry and impatience. She glanced at the bouquet ready for her time to shine.
We walked down the stairs on our way to the big garden where the wedding is being held. The entire castle was decorated, inside and out, with the reddest roses and the purest color of white roses I've ever seen.
The wedding venue looked the same as I looked the past few days only fuller with people, the chatters filled my ears once we exited by the big castle's doors.
Considering this is a royal wedding, I felt like the most typical person of the guests, every woman was wearing one of these huge ball gowns with shiny stones for accessories as if they were the ones getting married.
The flowers entwined between her fingers holding fast in her hand. As the bride walked down the aisle with her father, the light reflected from the crimson bouquet which made her look dazzling in the spotlight. Her face shone with worry but quickly covered it with excitement and love, she was looking at Elijah who stood beside William; it was easier to look at the one we truly love and smile, the cameras wouldn't catch it.
The king stared at me from across the red carpet in warning, or is it challenge, I don't even know anymore. He looked great in that suit of his, even his crown shined brighter than the sun today. He smirked at me then turned his gaze toward Jessica or her father and nodded in greeting, he stepped forward and took his place to start the ceremony.
I couldn't bring myself to look at William not when I'm not the one he's getting married to, it feels weird walking down the aisle toward your love and not be the one wearing the white gown. Instead I took a look at the queen and was surprised to see her already looking at me, the look in her eyes said something between "I'm sorry I did everything I could but I couldn't change his mind" and "Be strong my dear you look stunning as always, I'll be by your side today." She gave one final encouraging smile and wiping the small tear that formed in her eye when she saw us all together in one big picture.
It's getting harder to walk for me with each step I take forward as if I'll be thrown away like a simple doll, a child outgrew and got tired from. I know my mind is just making these ideas up but I can't help but think about it.
The fear thoughts looped around in my mind until there was no room for anything else. The "loop" played like this. "If I don't hold myself together for the rest of the ceremony then everyone will know about our plans but if I don't then I'll sure be death by the end of the day or passed out from drinking too much and end up spilling up everything to the first stranger I meet and he would tell the king." The thought loop included plenty of anger at myself for worrying that much.
These next few hours would either pass as a blip in the course of my life, or they would be the final trauma that broke me. I raised my hand to hold my head, making it seem as if I'm putting a strand of hair behind my eat, I put on the biggest smile on my face remembering that this wedding is just an act. I repeated the plan in my head until we arrived to the end of the carpet.
I took the flower bouquet from Jessica's hand, then her father put both of them in William's hands. The two of them jumped in surprise at the contact but quickly regained their focus and smiled for the cameras, we took our places and let the ceremony begin.
I held the flowers tightly in my hands I thought they would break until my grip, my felt like jelly and the ground moving under my feet, the world turned around me. I scolded myself for being that weak, I've been through worse and every time I've brave. However I quickly lost control over myself when I heard King Benjamin beginning to speak but I refused to ruin anything, especially my best friend's wedding in front of the cameras.
"First, I'd like to begin by welcoming everyone and thanking each and every one of you for being here on this most happy of days. It's no accident that each of you are here today, and each of you were invited to be here because you represent someone important in the individual and collective lives of our dearest Jessica Ava Ilvoir and his highness Prince William James Canmore."
I guess it's okay to feel awkward, I'd rather feel that way and be real than any other, although this wasn't the case here. Half the ceremony has already passed and our two supposedly happy couple should have a little bit of chemistry, which is completely non-existent during the past fifteen minutes.
Impatience stuck with me like glue, impending my proverbial affable nature. I was getting more bored by the second, plus there was nothing exciting to look at to pass time and I wasn't enjoying the sight of his Majesty for this long time.
My low mood is just that... mine. And while this brain of mine can construct a thousand plausible reasons that someone else is to blame, I need to own it and the path to get myself out of it. I need to exercise, to get outside in nature, to do the things that bring me joy until I feel my spark re-grow into a healthy flame. If I haven't fell in love with William and introduced him to Jessica, she would be now living happily with Elijah with no problems and William would be with any of the other royalty girl who left the castle the day after the ball to their jobs training.
To be honest we had a really fun time writing the vows yesterday and I'm really excited to see the reaction on everyone's face when they hear it too, I bet at least ten woman from the crowd will cry and plenty will gasp as soon as Jessica start talking.
She turned to look at her soon to be husband but actually looked at her boyfriend behind him to have her facial expressions look believable and true, this was the first time I saw William after our meeting in his room this morning. He was already looking at me with his love sick smile that makes me all wobbly, my breath caught in my throat when I caught myself smiling back, I quickly masked it with a small cough.
I dosed off but got the chance to listen to the rest of the vow. "I always dreamed about being with you and I fell in love with you the moment I saw you and I knew then that-" she didn't have the chance to finish her talk.
"Stop everything now, I can't take it anymore you all should hear what I have to say!" I didn't expect him to shout that now, I didn't expect him to show up at all. It's been a while since I last saw him and the sight of him haven't done me any good.
I straightened my body and held a defensive position, breaking the royal wedding wasn't a wise thing to do and the look on his face didn't tell me that he came here with good intentions at all. My muscles tensed up once he talked again.
"Tell them your highness do you really love Jessica or is she just a distraction? Do you really want us to believe that you fell in love with a girl you danced with for just twenty minutes during the ball?" Some guests started to believe his ridiculous talk, which is true but how dare he expose us like that? How dare he come near me again and blame the prince for something he did plenty of times.
"Get lost Jason, I have the right to get you arrested for threatening and yelling at the prince." I shouted from my place trying to get closer to him slowly.
I hated the attention I was getting but it was the only right thing to do is to make him go and talk far from anyone who might start rumors.
"Oh he did a great job making you hate me," I wonder from where did he get the nerve to say that when he was the one to cheat on me and break me not once but twice. "I'm impressed your highness, you took Olivia from me and now you're marrying her best friend." No, no, no, enough, I'm tired of all his games.
"Soldier go back to your place and be careful of how you talk with your superiors!" commanded King Benjamin. "Seize him in the castle's prison, I'll deal with him later."
"I'm afraid that's not possible, any last words your highness before I kill you with the rest of your wonderful circus." By the time I understood his words it was too late, Jason already had the machine gun in hand and already pulled the trigger in their direction.
One minute the guests were watching the conflict silently then another everyone was screaming and running to safety, chairs on the ground, purses left on place, some high heels fell from some random women, and men taking their family inside.
The sound of bullets filled my ear, I expected anything to go wrong but not that. I flung myself at him trying to take away the weapon from his hand, I hated the touch of his skin on mine however it was a sacrifice I am willing to do to keep all the people I love and care about safe.
We both fell the ground and thankfully the equipment fell far from his grip, dropped him facing down placing both his hand behind his back and with the help of other guards I handcuffed him then he was taken inside to the castle's prison to be taken care off later.
I sighed a breath of relieve before remembering the others, no guests were left in the venue so no one was hurt, except I saw the queen kneeling in front of her husband's lifeless body slapping him to wake up, crying and praying for him to live.
My gaze shifted to William his hands were full of blood and his clothes too, no it can't be. I ran toward him and noticed it wasn't his blood but Jessica's he just hid her from the cameras behind the flower arrangement and Elijah was trying to keep her awake.
"Come on stay with me, stay awake I'll take you to the hospital wing." He carried her and ran inside. I fell on my knees crying, I wish all the bad ideas I got in the morning happened but not this.
I hugged William although he winced in response letting out a small yelp. "Were you hurt too? Oh no come with me to the hospital so that we can get you checked up." I trying pulling him up but he was just staring into emptiness? No, his parents a few meters away from us.
I couldn't think of anything in the middle of this chaos and didn't know what to do next, a few guards came to take the King's body to a more private place while everybody were asked to go back to their previous everyday work.
How could Jason do that? He really is a psychopath and I won't defend him if William wants to sentence him to death, I'll be very happy to help the society get rid of one sick person that twist the truth and believe his own lies.
I gave the prince a supportive hug and helped him up, we walked inside leaving the mess behind us and entered the world of grief at the castle's private hospital.